The present invention relates to a means for counteracting odors and moisture accumulation in athletic footwear and other sports gear during use, and more particularly to devices insertable into shoes, boots, skates, gloves, shoulder pads, shin pads, sports bags, backpacks and other sports gear to draw moisture and odor-causing components away from their interior and exterior surfaces.
Sports gear, including, but not limited to footwear, has a well known tendency to collect moisture, largely from perspiration when in use, and also between uses when stored in closed containers or humid environments. Extreme or prolonged exposure to moisture can degrade and weaken the materials used in their construction, especially along inside surfaces. In addition, perspiration contains dissolved salts and organic compounds such as urea that can cause unpleasant odors as perspiration accumulates in such materials.
These problems can be more pronounced in athletic footwear due to more active and intensive usage, and also due to more frequent usage as in daily practices or training sessions. The requirements and style of certain athletic footwear can aggravate the problems. For example, the structural integrity required of ice skates results in the use of stronger, less porous material that extends upwardly to include the ankles. Thus, frequently used ice skates are particularly prone to the collection and retention of moisture and odor-causing organic constituents.
There are a variety of known approaches to counteract the moisture and odor accumulation in footwear, including powders and sprays, along with pads or insoles as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,402 (Digade) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,667 (Klavano).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,323 (Wroth et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,224 (Qualkinbush et al.) disclose desiccant-containing devices that can be removably inserted into shoes and other footwear between uses. While both of these devices are said to remove moisture, the Wroth et al. device does not address the need to remove odor-causing constituents. Qualkinbush et al. notes that activated charcoal might be added to its desiccant material, but does not indicate what form the activated charcoal might take or the amount that might be added, nor does it recognize any need or desire to avoid intermingling these components. Specifically, the activated charcoal in granular form lacks the hardness of silica gel and other suitable desiccant materials. Thus, any device containing a mixture of the desiccant and activated charcoal would need to be handled with extreme care to minimize the fracturing, crumbling, and smudging of the charcoal granules that otherwise would occur from contact with the desiccant beads.
Accordingly, the present invention has several aspects directed to one or more of the following objects:                to provide a moisture and odor removal device that contains a first adsorbent component in the form of a desiccant and a second adsorbent component adapted to adsorb odor-causing constituents, in a manner that prevents any intermingling of these components;        to provide an insert for athletic equipment and footwear capable of rapidly removing moisture and odors between frequent episodes of use, and with sufficient moisture and odor retention capacity to prevent the accumulation of moisture and odors or bacteria during long-term storage;        to provide a footwear insert with an outer perimeter stage adapted to collect and retain airborne odor-causing constituents, and an inner stage adapted to collect and retain water vapor; and        to provide a device insertable into objects that more rapidly and effectively draws moisture and odor-causing constituents away from the material forming inside surfaces of the objects.        